I have a cedar creek cottage on order from couch RV. I live 1000 miles away. An I in store for any of this?
Opinions please.

Hard to say -- have you done business with them in the past?

Our "in town" dealer (yes they sell FR) in a word *sucks* (nicest thing I can say in a public forum about them)

We drove 90 miles to another Dealer (Dandy RV) because they were recommended to us.
We were treated with respect and dignity, NEVER pressured (it took us over 2 weeks to decide) and the whole purchase experience was great.

Unfortunatly, the Used car Dealership anology applies so unless you can get a "review" of the dealer you are using I doubt if any could advise...sorry.

And on THAT note, looks like we WILL be coming to Goshen and YES I would be happy to "chat" with the FR CEO, and pass my letter on to him!

I have no allegiance to any RV dealer. I go for the best deal. Most jerk you around for warranty work anyway or do a piss poor job fixing it. It's very rare to find one with good service and a good price. Most RVs are warranted for a year which means maybe 4 to 6 weeks of actual use after that you pay. Most repairs I can do myself and I'd rather have it that way. I have a service only guy close by and he is very reasonable. I use him for what I can't repair myself. I saved 5K on the trailer I just ordered so I can't bitch about fixing a loose door or a small water leak. If it's a major problem take it back to the factory or they can find someone willing to repair it without giving you grief. We've been RVing since 1969 and learned not to sweat the small things. In 100 years it probably won't matter anyway. Happy Camping Everyone.

One of the biggest things is if they would slow down and do proper quality checks of all systems in an Rv before it gets shipped out it would cut way down on quality control issues instead they use dealers to do quality control fixes for them

Some RV MFG may use their dealers to do final assembly & QC but too many seem to use the owner to do this work as dealers are not interested or qualified to do the work of fixing the design and assembly problems done by the original "mfg" plant.

I spent my 40 year carreer working as a design and quality engineer for a supplier to "Detroit" as well as numerous car companies in Japan. Also consider myself a "car guy".

I have many times said that the RV manufacturers are at the same place GM & Ford were in 1970 making Vega & Pintos. The word "Quality" does not seem to be in the vocabulary of the RV companies. I can't imagine what would happen if you bought a new car today and when you discovered a shopping list of defects were told you needed to take your car to the plant that built the car if you wanted the problems fixed.
Why can car companies stand behind their full electrical system for up to 50,000 miles but for RVs the best most seem to be able to manage is 1 year which for most RV owners is only about 6,000 miles at most.
There is no excuse other than RV companies appear to have no clue, or no interest, in making a quality product as the wire, connectors and fixtures are available so the poor quality is either intentional or the fault of poorly trained workers.

__________________.
I write a blog on RV tire application and safety and give seminars on tires at RV events across the US. 40 years experience as tire design & quality engineer for major tire mfg. Freelander 23QB on Chevy chassis is my RVRV Tire Safety Blog

Regarding a Lemon Rockwood 8289WKS. However, comments made by others ("All Manufacturers are like that" "had to take our unit back 6 times" and "our dealer refuses to fix X on our 2 month old RV" prompted this:

<SOAPBOX>What REALLY Pi$$es me off about all these RV issues we hear about - and Mac you are 1 of hundreds (if not more!!) is this: Companies like Forest River contract with a independent "RV Professional" to sell their product. A product that even at the extreme low end costs the consumer several thousand dollars.

Yet, a number of these "Professionals" want to treat the RV business like the wild west days of the Auto Industry in the 60's and 70's (forgetting all the while that BECAUSE of those "wild west days" we have many many consumer protection laws and VERY litigation hungry attorneys.)

Unfortunately, from my foxhole, I see these unscrupulous RV business practices reflecting back on the manufacturer and it beats the HELL out of me WHY the Manufacturer does not police the dealerships more vigorously -- I can only surmise it is because the RV industry has been in a slump since C 2008 and the Manufacturers can't afford to be choosy.

There are exceptions out there – and some of us have documented that in our dealer reviews. My dealer is a good example of someone who knows if they take care of the customer he becomes a walking advertisement for them which is good business sense.

More importantly though it is the RV Business’s attitude: my dealer does things because – and I quote management here – “It’s the right and decent thing to do.”

I like to chide folks and say this is a “Southern thing and you wouldn’t understand” but NO that is hopefully wrong.

Forest River (and every other RV manufacturer out there) you need to WAKE UP!! The economy is on the mend, people are taking interest in RVs again (and not just us die-hard RVers.)

Let’s go back to the modern car dealer business paradigm: Our Ford dealer did everything in their power to earn our business. Don’t have what you want on the lot? No problem let me access dealer databases within 100-200 miles. No, sorry still nothing – let me make a factory order for you; once submitted it will be 4-6 weeks for delivery.

1 week later we get a email from Ford: your truck is in production! Here is the VIN, go to this website to track the assembly process: XXX

3 Weeks: Update email received: your truck is ready for shipment from our Kansas City plant! You can expect delivery at your Huntsville Ford dealer within a week!

4 Weeks: Dealer calls. Your truck is in Mr. Williams. We are sending it out to Line-X, then over to the window tint shop, then accessories for the deer whistles, bug shield, door guards, sliding bed cover, and window vent shades.

(NOTE: Dealer got all accessories installed at the dealer rate which was @ 25% cheaper than if I had run around and had it done myself – dealer was up front – he makes his money in volume and does not mind passing savings off to the customer).

3 Days later: Dealer Calls. Mr. Williams your truck is back from installation, we need 1 day in the shop to apply undercarriage protectant, nitrogen fill the tires, apply stain guard to the leather and carpet, and final body, paint & interior detailing. When would you like to schedule pickup?

2 days later: Pickup at dealer. A tech spends over an hour going over all the operation, where things are under the hood, infotainment/navigation/sync my wife’s and my cell phones, activates the satellite radio, and then hops in the back and off we go for a 30 min test / shakedown drive. When we get back, while we go sign the final paperwork the tech took the truck to the shop, tweaked some things, spot cleaned the exterior and windows and topped off the gas tank.

As we walk out to the truck, one of the managers congratulates us on our purchase and hands us a “gift bag” – a large 24x20” insulated zipper cooler bag that includes a fire extinguisher, first aid kit, window break/seat belt cutter tool, leather folio for insurance & registration, snow brush/ice scraper, coupons for 4 free Goo-Goo car washes and a $30 gift certificate at a local BBQ (just in time for lunch it turns out!)

This, my friends is customer service!

Now, simply insert “Forest River” in place of Ford above and you will get my point…if Ford can do THIS on a $40,000.00 truck, why can’t a RV dealer do this on a $75,000 RV????</SOAPBOX>

*Grumble* SOMEONE needs to print this out and take it to Goshen and put it in the FR CEO's hands.....

Not necessarily. As I've stated before, I believe there are by far, more happy people out enjoying their campers, than are spending time on forums, looking for answers to problems they are having. This is not meant to diminish anything for those who have problems though.

As to the Ford/dealer comparison. Ford didn't do anything other than supply the buyer with a build date. Most of his satisfaction came from the dealer. The letter to FR, I think, would be better served by having them take responsibility over their dealers. If the dealers don't perform to satisfactory levels, pull their dealership. I truly believe the biggest downfall of the RV industry, is the dealer. A good dealer is great to have, anything less can lead to a bad experience. FR can make improvements in Quality Control, that's a given, and most factory reps will admit this. They are building for the masses, you can't please all the people, all the time. Some want a cheap price tag, some want a high end unit, some want both. Only by being constructive in our criticism, can we change the way things are done. Peace!

I don't consider it unreasonable to expect all systems to work as intended. For lights not to be in corroded fixtures. For wire access holes to be cut or drilled not "bashed" through the plywood with a hammer. Water fixtures should not rust or corrode in 18 months. There should not be a 1/2 full paint can rolling around under the raised floor in the bathroom ares. Awning material should not have the sewing fail at 18 months.

Vinyl graphics should not crack at 18 months and when the RV mfg admits the vinyl was defective they should stand behind their product even id out of 1 year warranty, unless of course they are expecting the customer to ever buy again or recommend that brand to others

__________________.
I write a blog on RV tire application and safety and give seminars on tires at RV events across the US. 40 years experience as tire design & quality engineer for major tire mfg. Freelander 23QB on Chevy chassis is my RVRV Tire Safety Blog

Well, in our development we just placed the 17th.cottage and mine will most likely be number 18. About 12 of these were purcahsed from a local dealer (25 miles away). You ask any of then about service and I could not find a happy one amoung them. I purchased mine from Couch expecting to never use then and save the $3000.
Luckly we have an RV service place inside the development that is Forrest River approvef. Before I placed my order I spoke to the owner of the service dealer. He said to me, when I asked about F R warranty, " well, they pay their bills". Good enough for me.

Sorry but I have no plans to attend. FR did not invite me to present any seminars as FMCA has dome a few times in the past.

__________________.
I write a blog on RV tire application and safety and give seminars on tires at RV events across the US. 40 years experience as tire design & quality engineer for major tire mfg. Freelander 23QB on Chevy chassis is my RVRV Tire Safety Blog